


Cosmic Love

by BenicioQueen



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: BenicioQueen, But also not me, F/M, Family, He's not how he is typically perceived in canon etc, Love, Melissa is me, Romace, Smut, Taneleer is OOC, This is a self insert ish, Tumblr-TaneleerTivan-TheCollector, based off of role play with taneleertivan-thecollector on tumblr, cosmic love, don't like it don't read it, self ship ish, this Melissa is a better cooler me, tumblr-BenicioQueen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-28 04:43:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20058217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BenicioQueen/pseuds/BenicioQueen
Summary: Okay y’all, this is chapter one of the fic @taneleertivan-thecollector and I are co writing together based off our role play. Thank you, love for being awesome and doing this with me *big smooches*Before we get into the chapter I want to give everyone a heads up, this is not what you’re use to when it comes to Taneleer. This is very out of character. If you’re not into that kind of thing then don’t read it. If you’re not into “self inserts” and “self ships” don’t read. This is OUR rp and this is how it’s done.Now that we got the boring, but necessary bit out of the way, on with the story!





	1. Someone New

“I don’t know why I agreed to go out tonight,” Melissa mutters as she curls her hair. “It starts off fun, but then by the end of the night I’m stuck babysitting their drunk asses,” she goes on.

“Maybe you’ll actually meet someone this time,” Melissa’s sister Jackie replies through the speaker of the phone. Melissa scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Not likely Jac.”

“Alright negative Nancy. I tried. I failed. Have fun. Don’t have fun. Meet someone. Don’t meet someone. Makes no difference to me,” Jackie quips.

“Okay! I can take a hint, Jac. Jesus! I will try my very best to have a good time tonight,” Melissa declares.

“That’s all I ask of you. I know it’s hard putting yourself back out there after all you’ve been through,” Jackie begins but Melissa cuts her off, “Yeah. Anyway I’ll call you later in the week. Give Matt and the kids kisses from me.” Melissa hangs up before Jackie can utter a goodbye.

After turning off and unplugging her curling wand, Melissa goes over to her closet to rummage through to find something to wear. She opts to wear a short, lace, black dress with a modest neckline and long sleeves and for a pop of color, chooses a pair of hot pink pumps. Melissa gives herself the once over in her mirror. “As good as it’s gonna get,” she mutters then grabs her black clutch off the table by her front door. With a sigh, Melissa leaves her apartment, making sure to lock it behind her. When she leaves the complex, Melissa heads down the familiar streets of Knowhere and makes her way to Prime, a local club, to meet her friends and co-workers. One of the perks of going to Prime, for Melissa, was being good friends with the bouncer, Creed. When she arrives at the club, Melissa makes her way past the line of people to the main entrance. The music is bumping and the familiar scent of strong alcohol and smoke fills her nostrils already.

“Hey there, sweet thing. It’s been a long time since you’ve been here. What’s up with that?” Creed teases. Melissa gives him a warm smile, “You know me. I much prefer to stay in then go out.”

Creed nods and steps aside for Melissa to enter the loud, crowded club. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees her friend and co-worker, Arla, flagging her down. Swiftly, Melissa makes her way over to the table, pushing people out of her way.

“About time you showed up!” Arla shouts over the music.

Melissa rolls her eyes, “You’re lucky I’m here at all so shut it!”

Arla hands Melissa a glass of her favorite drink, vodka cranberry. With drinks in hand they make their way to the dance floor to dance with their friends. As the night wears on, Melissa’s friends get a little too trashed and need assistance. While it always irritated her that she was labeled ‘the responsible one’, Melissa was never one to shy away from making sure they all got home safely. Using her phone, Melissa arranged for a ship to pick up her four drunk friends. Of the four, Kaia was the most coherent and was able to help Melissa get the others into the ship and tell the pilot how to get to the apartment complex they lived in on the other side of Knowhere. “I’ll text you when we get to our complex so you know we got there safely,” Kaia reassured Melissa as she could feel herself starting to sober up a little.

“I would appreciate it. You know I worry about ya,” Melissa says concern apparent in her voice. “We’ll be good. Swear,” Kaia promises. Melissa nods and steps away from the ship so Kaia can close the door. Once the ship disappears out of Melissa’s line of vision she makes her way back home to her complex. Feeling positively exhausted, all Melissa could focus on was her nice, warm bed. Not paying attention to where she was going, Melissa found herself crashing into someone then landing on her ass.

“Oh, my! I’m terribly sorry, miss,” came the voice of the person she bumped into. A hand reaches down to help her stand up. Her gaze travels from the hand upwards. At first Melissa could only focus on the lush, platinum blonde, perhaps white, hair then her green eyes lock with a pair of dark honey eyes. “Wow, this guy is extravagant, but really handsome,” Melissa thinks to herself. When she realizes she’s staring, Melissa mentally shakes herself and takes the offered hand. The man before her, helps her stand. He pulls up a little too hard causing Melissa to stumble a little. She catches herself, splaying her free hand on the man’s broad chest.

“My apologies. I don’t know my own strength sometimes. I’m terribly sorry for knocking you down,” the man rambles.

“No, no. Don’t apologize. I should have been paying attention. I’m the one who should be sorry,” Melissa insists.

“I insist that it was entirely my fault, miss,” the man protests.

Glancing up at the handsome man, who stands at least 7 inches taller than her maybe more, Melissa offers a bright smile. “Let’s compromise and say we’re both at fault?” she suggests.

The man smiles down at the beauty before him. “Yes. Agreed,” he concurs. “My name is Taneleer Tivan. May I know the name of the beauty who stands in my presence?”

“Melissa. Melissa Beck,” she answers then realizes her hand is still on Taneleer’s chest. She pulls her hand away and takes a step back, blushing. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize. You did nothing wrong,” he smiles. “I know we just met, but may I escort you to wherever it is you were going?” he offers.

Melissa regards the man in front of her. She knows it’s risky, but there is something about this man, this Taneleer, that intrigues her. “That’s very sweet of you,Taneleer. Yes, you may escort me. I was heading home to my apartment,” Melissa replies. Taneleer beams and offers his arm. Without a second thought, Melissa loops her arms through Taneleer’s and they walk the streets of Knowhere to her complex.

When they arrive, Taneleer gently let’s go of Melissa’s arm. “Thank you for walking me home. I appreciate it and I enjoyed your company very much,” Melissa informs Taneleer sincerely.

“It was my pleasure my dear,” he murmurs as he places a soft kiss to the back of her hand.

“Will I see you again, Taneleer?” Melissa questions.

“I would enjoy seeing you again very much. May I treat you to dinner tomorrow evening?” Taneleer asks, not letting go of her hand yet.

“Be here at 8 to get me,” Melissa instructs with a smile on her face.

Taneleer smiles and places another kiss to her hand. “8 o’clock it is. I’ll be here,” he assures her.

Taneleer releases her hand and gives her a bow. Melissa smiles as he bows then watches him leave. He looks back over his shoulder with a smile and Melissa blows him a kiss then turns to head inside. In the elevator, Melissa glances at her phone and sees she has a message from Kaia telling her they all arrived home safely. Melissa text back a quick ‘Ditto. Good night’. Melissa exits the elevator and quickly walks down the hall to her apartment. Once inside, she immediately kicks off her shoes, her feet aching from dancing and walking. She locks her door then heads to her bedroom. Not bothering to change out of her dress, Melissa collapses onto her comfy bed and drifts off to sleep. Her dreams filled with Taneleer.


	2. Insecurity

Melissa wakes the next morning a little groggy. Sitting up, she stretches and lets out a yawn then runs her fingers through her long, wavy hair. It takes a moment, but Melissa remembers her dream which makes her think about her meeting Taneleer and that puts a big smile on her face.

Meanwhile, only a few blocks away, Taneleer has already begun his day. He has met with five clients and is seemingly uninterested in what they have brought him or proposals they have given. Carina, his personal assistant has noticed his behavior is odd and confronts him.

“Master? Are you alright?” she questions as she kneels beside his office chair.

“I’m fine, Carina,” he answers pretending to be annoyed because he is not ready to tell her about Melissa. “Don’t you have chores to be doing?”

“Yes, Master” Carina sighs in defeat and quietly leaves his office.

Starting her morning off as she always does, Melissa turns on her phone or as they call it on Knowhere, talkie.One of the nice things about living on Knowhere despite no regulations, the technology was far more superior than that of Terra so she was able to access all of the normal things like music, games and apps that she was use to before she came here since the everyday smartphone from Terra doesn’t work anywhere in space. Not to mention a plethora of others things on the device.

Meghan Trainor’s Better When I’m Dancing seeps through the speaker. Melissa grins and dances around her apartment as she makes her coffee and breakfast of eggs benedict. After breakfast, Melissa cleans up her kitchen then showers. When she finishes, she gets dressed and heads out to go shopping before going into work.

After two hours of trying on clothes, Melissa believes she found the perfect outfit to wear on her date with Taneleer. Glancing at her watch, Melissa’s eyes widen.

“Shit. I’m late,” she announces loudly to no one. As quickly as she can, Melissa makes her way to the Double Down.

“You’re late,” Zane points to the clock.

“I know. I got caught up,” Melissa replies holding her shopping bag.

“Shopping? Seriously?” Zane scoffs.

“Seriously,” Melissa answers definitely with a smile on her face and brushes past him making her way to the main office above the bar.

“You’re chipper today. I mean, you’re typically a happy person, but today seems like more than your usual happy,” Zane comments as he follows Melissa.

“Well, last night was actually pretty good. Things didn’t get out of hand like last time. And to top it off, I slept incredibly well,” Melissa informs him, but does not indulge him with information about meeting Taneleer or her date with him tonight. “Oh, before I forget I’m leaving at 6 tonight.”

“That’s fine by me. Can I ask why?” Zane looks at Melissa curiously.

“You can ask. But I’m not telling,” Melissa smirks then gets to work on the inventory and payroll.

After what seems like a lifetime, 6 o'clock finally rolls around. Without bothering to say goodbye to Zane or any of her coworkers, Melissa books it back to her apartment to get herself ready for her date. Although she took a shower this morning, Melissa pulls her hair up into a bun and hops in the shower again wanting to be extra clean. After she washes her body, she does a quick check of her body to see anything needs a touch up for shaving. Satisfied that every bite of her is neat and clean, Melissa gets out of the shower, quickly dries off then slathers herself with her favorite body lotion that smells like citrus with a faint floral undertone. Once the lotion has had time to sink into her skin, Melissa slips on her silk, purple robe and goes back out into her bedroom to put on a black strapless bra and matching black thong. She then goes back into her bathroom to style her hair. She creates a small bump in the front then does a small French braid on either side of her head stopping the braids at the top of her ears then sweeps the remainder of her hair into a high ponytail. After her hair is done, Melissa moves on to her makeup. She keeps it light and fresh looking, wanting to enhance her features and not go overboard.

“Hopefully he likes what he sees,” Melissa remarks to herself as she looks in the mirror. Still only wearing her bra and thong, she turns sideways and examines her body. She has thick thighs and hips and she has a bit of a tummy. She always hated her stomach but she did her best to hide her feelings about her insecurities. She does however embrace her round, plump ass and big boobs. Those she could absolutely live with along with her hips and thighs but her damn stomach and her arms, those made her feel ugly.

“Girl, you can’t be thinking about this right before your date with this gorgeous man. He seemed to show genuine interest in you,” Melissa scolds herself. She had come a long way from how she felt about herself, but she still had a long way to go.

Taneleer was also giving himself a pep talk, feeling nervous himself.

“She’s so breathtaking and I’m so….well, look at me.” He observes himself in the full length mirror in his bedroom. His self esteem has been low for stars knows how long. There’s a knock on his door pulling him from his thoughts.

“What is it?” he snaps. Carina pokes her head in. “I have your clothes clean and pressed, Master,” she tells him meekly. Taneleer sighs, “I apologize for snapping, Carina. Thank you. You may place my clothes on my bed,” he instructs. Carina does as he asks then she bows and leaves. Taneleer takes his time getting dressed and fixing his hair and eyeliner. He wanted to make an excellent impression on Melissa. Truth be told, he felt a real connection with her and that is something he’s never experienced on this level in his entire existence. It’s also something he will not admit out loud to her for fear of scaring her away. After all, they only met last night.

Shaking her nerves, Melissa puts on the black, one shoulder, wide leg jumpsuit she bought earlier in the day. It was classy, a little sexy exposing her shoulder and super comfortable. Everything Melissa loves in an outfit. To finish off her look she slips on a pair of rose gold sandals with a thick, three inch heel, her rose gold watch with a rose gold bracelet and three rose gold hoops in each earlobe.

“I actually look really fucking good,” she grins at her reflection. “Oh, shit.” She hurries back into her bathroom. “I can’t believe I almost walked out the door without brushing my teeth.” Melissa thoroughly, but quickly brushes her teeth then pops a couple a wintergreen mints into her mouth for extra freshness. She then throws clean clothes, her wallet, phone and the mints into a black purse, grabs her apartment key and heads out locking her door behind her. 

Taneleer actually shows up outside of Melissa’s complex 15 minutes early and patiently waits. After a few minutes, she appears in his line of vision. His eyes light up at the sight of her and he grins. When she reaches him, a grin on her face as well, she hugs him and kisses his cheek.

“Hi,” she greets happily.

“Hello dearest,” Taneleer says sweetly and kisses the back of her hand then encourages her to loop her arm through his. “Shall we, dearest?,” he inquires.

“Let’s,” Melissa replies the smile still on her face.


	3. Galaxy's Edge

“You look positively breathtaking dearest,” Taneleer compliments Melissa causing her to blush.

“Thank you,” she replies, a smile gracing her face. "You look incredibly handsome,” she muses. “So where are we going?” Melissa asks as they stroll arm in arm down the street.

“Galaxy’s Edge,” came the reply.

Melissa stops walking. “Galaxy’s Edge? But that place is exclusive. They don’t just let anyone in,” she remarks, surprise evident on her face.

Taneleer smiles and coaxes Melissa to continue along their walk. “I made a reservation. I wanted to take you some place special,” he explains.

“That’s very sweet of you Taneleer. Thank you,” Melissa smiles warmly.

When they reach their destination, a restaurant employee immediately opens the door for them. “G-good evening, Mr. Tiv-Tivan,” the young Xandarian male stammered and bowed quickly. Taneleer bowed in return, “Good evening young man.” Melissa and Taneleer are ushered inside.

“We have your booth all ready for you, Mr. Tivan,” a female Betan informs him then bows. “If you’ll follow me please.”

Melissa loops her arm through Taneleer’s once more. The Betan escorts them up a grand staircase of white marble and leads them to a corner booth that could easily seat 10 others beings with them. Melissa releases Taneleer’s arm and as lady like as possible slides herself into the round booth. With a smile, Taneleer slides in on the other side until he is almost centered then pulls Melissa closer to him. “That’s better,” he whispers. She kisses his cheek and smiles.

The Betan clears her throat, “Mr. Tivan informed us you were from Terra. We have brought in the finest Terra renowned chef and he will prepare anything you would like. We have also imported the finest wines and liquors from Terra at your disposal, ma'am,” she rattles off.

“Oh, wow. Thank you. I’ll need to think about what I’d like to eat, but I would love a vodka cranberry and a water to drink please,” Melissa tells the Betan politely.

“Very well. I shall return momentarily,” she bows and briskly walks away.

Melissa turns to look at Taneleer. “You’re just full of surprises aren’t you?”

“Whatever do you mean my dearest?” Taneleer asks trying to look innocent.

“Reservations at the most exclusive restaurant on Knowhere. You’re obviously a frequent patron here. And you had them bring in a world renowned chef to cook for me. Should I expect dancing penguins to bring me my food?” Melissa asks with a smile.

“Dancing penguins?” Taneleer inquires.

“Mhm. There’s a terran movie called Mary Poppins and there’s a scene with dancing penguins,” Melissa explains. The Betan returns with Melissa’s water and her vodka cranberry along with a glass of bright green liquid for Taneleer.

“Are you ready to place your order ma'am?” she asks stiffly.

“Yes. I would like a porterhouse steak with crispy potatoes and grilled zucchini please.”

The Betan nods curtly. “Very good. I shall return soon with your meals.” The timid Xandarian male from earlier approaches carrying a platter. “In the mean time enjoy these hors d'oeuvres compliments of our chef as well as the terran chef.” The Betan snaps her fingers at the Xandarian. He startles and almost drops the platter.

“Careful you imbecile!” the Betan barks.

“Hey! There’s no reason for you to get nasty with the poor boy,” Melissa snaps at her then gets out of the booth and carefully takes the platter from the young man. “It’s alright, honey. You did just fine. You’re excused,” Melissa sets the platter down and pats his shoulder. He smiles grateful and scurries out of the room. Melissa looks at the Betan with fire in here eyes, “If that is how you’re going to treat people then you shouldn’t be working here. Shame on you for terrifying the poor boy,” Melissa scolds.

The Betan glares at Melissa, but then sees Taneleer glaring at her. She quickly bows, “My sincerest apologies ma'am,” she says coolly.

“Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to that boy.”

She nods and leaves.

“What a dreadful woman. Who behaves that way?” Melissa asks in a huff and sits back down. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make a scene.”

“Don’t apologize dearest. I admire your character,” Taneleer tells her honestly. “Shall we eat?”

“Please,” Melissa agreed.

They toast to new beginnings then clink their glasses and drink. Soon their entrees arrive.

“So what is it that you do for a living, Taneleer?” Melissa inquires as they eat.

“I’m known throughout the galaxy as The Collector. I collect species and relics,” he explains between bites of his dinner. “Its easier to show than tell.”

“I would very much like to see it sometime,” Melissa pipes up.

“I would be delighted to show you dearest,” Tanleer smiles.

After the table is cleared, Taneleer exits the booth and offers his hand to Melissa which she happily takes. He leads her outside onto a balcony and hands her another vodka cranberry. They continue to talk about his work and a little bit of her life on terra though she refused to talk about why she left. She would tell him one day, but not today. Taneleer and Melissa seemed to have a mutual understanding that there’s a lot they want to share about their lives, but not all in one night and definitely not on the first date.

“Tonight has been wonderful, Taneleer. You have truly swept me off my feet,” Melissa confesses as loops her arm through his. She lays her head on his shoulder as they look out at the nightlife of Knowhere.

“I’m delighted to hear that, dearest,” he tells her. She looks up at him with a smile. Taneleer leans down and presses a soft kiss to her lips, eliciting a soft moan from her throat. When Taneleer breaks the kiss, he rests his forehead against hers and wraps his arms around her waist. Melissa closes her eyes, savoring the moment because she knows all too well it will come to an end soon. They stay embraced a while longer before Taneleer escorts Melissa home. He comes up to her apartment for a night cap.

“Thank you again for tonight,” Melissa thanks Taneleer and hands him a glass of whiskey. “I hope our second date will be soon?” she asks perhaps a bit too hopeful.

Taneleer drinks the whiskey and sets down the glass. He takes Melissa’s hands in his and pulls her to him, “Our second date will be very soon my dearest. I enjoyed tonight. I enjoyed your company and I intend to know you better,” he assures her then kisses her with a little more passion than earlier.

Melissa encircles her arms around Taneleer’s neck and deepens the kiss. Knowing perfectly well what she was doing, she presses her body flush against his which made them both moan. After a few minutes, Taneleer’s brain emerged from the fog and he steps away from her.

“Is something wrong?” she frowns.

“No, dearest. I-I want you. Believe me I do, but I am a gentleman and will conduct myself as such. We will get to the point we both clearly desire, but not tonight,” he murmurs as he cups her face in his hands.

“Oh,” Melissa sighs feeling ridiculous. “I understand. We will absolutely wait,” she reluctantly agreed.

Taneleer gives her one last kiss then steps away. “I will call tomorrow,” he promises.

Melissa nods and walks him to her door. “Good night, Taneleer,” she whispers.

“Good night, my dearest Melissa,” he whispers then leaves.


End file.
